Educational appliance.



No. 676,3!3. Patented lune Il. 190|.

J. A. HEALEY. VEIIUATINAL- APPLIANCE. (Application med mar. 2o, 1901.) l

(No Model.)

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UNITED4 STATES ,PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. HEALEY, OF WAKEFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SELCI-IOW' ANDRIGHTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

EDUCATIONALV APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,313, dated June 11,1901. Application filed March 20, 1901. Serial No. 52,047. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. HEALEY, of Wakefield, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Educational Appliances, of Which the following isa specifloat-ion.

This invention relates to appliances for teaching spelling and for otheranalogous purposes in which a series of blocks are employed inconnection with a holder on which the blocks are movable, so that anydesired number of them can be assembled to form a Word, the blocksbeingprovided With letters or other characters on their surfaces.

The invention has for its object to provide an appliance of thischaracter in which the blocks when not in use shall be held on anannular rack from which they are transfer able to a receiver or tablewhich is located within the rack and on which they may be grouped toform the desired combination, an appliance embodying my inventionpresenting in compact form an attractive combination of mechanical partsor elements calculated to excite the interest of the pupil using it.

The invention consists in the improvements Which I will now proceed todescribe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a top view of an educational appliance embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3represents a section on line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a perspective viewof one of the blocks.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

In the drawings, a represents a base or sup-V port, which may be a flatboard of rectangular form adapted to rest on a table.

b represents a stud `or post affixed to the base a and projectingupwardly from the cent'ral portion thereof.

c represents an annular rack or holder forV a series of blocks d, havingletters or other characters printed or otherwise inscribed upon theirfaces. The holder comprises a ring 5, which may be of Wood, ratan, orany suitable material, and is connected by angular arms 6 6 with a hub7, which is adapted to rotate on the stud b. The rack also comprises aseries of pins 8, inserted in the ring 5 and projecting radially fromthe inner side thereof. Each of the blocks d has an orifice d' extendingthrough it and formed to receive one of the pinsS, the blocks beingloosely mounted on the pins and adapted to be removed therefrom by aninward sliding movement toward the center of the ring 5.

e represents a block-receiver or table to which the blocks d aretransferable from the pins 8 in the manner hereinafter described.

` The table e is rigidly affixed to the upper end of the stud b. Thetable is preferably of circular form and is surrounded by the rack c.The upper surface of the table is so arranged relatively to the blocksthat it projects y above the under sides of the blocks, as indi cated inFig. 3, and thus prevents the blocks from being entirely removed fromthe pins 8, excepting at one part of the periphery of the table-namely,the mouth of a slot e', formed in the upper surface of the table andextending nearly 4across the same, as shown in Eigs. l and 2. The slote' is of sufficient length and width to receive a number of the blocksd, and its bottom is located slightly below the bottoms of the blocksheld on the pins 8. One end of the slot is `closed at e2, the Oppositeend being open. When the rack c is adjusted so that one of the pins 8 isopposite the center of the open end of the slot, the block on said pincan be transferred from the pin to the slot and can be moved along thelatter to the closed end e2, if desired. It will be seen, therefore,that enough blocks to fill the slot can be successively transferred fromthe pins of the rack to the slot, the Walls of the latter constituting aguide to hold the transferred blocks in alinement.

It will be observed that the slot e does not of itself confine theblocks against upward removal from the table. I therefore provide anadditional guide to perform this function,said guide being a Wire rod orarmf, affixed atf' to one edge of the table, the main portion of the armprojecting horizontally over the table and over the center of the slote', the

height ofthe arm being such that it is in alinement with each pinl 8that is brought into operative relation with the slot e', so that ablock transferred from a pin to the4 slot will b e strung upon the rod fand will thus be secured, so that it cannot be raised from the table.rlhe arrnf'may be secured to the table in any suitable Way, preferablyby bending it near one end to form a shorter arm f', which is in'-serted in an orifice in the table, the neck portion f2 being engagedwith a slot in the edge of the table, so that the ar'm f is preventedfrom swinging laterally.

Each block d is preferably provided with a letter or other character onfour of its sides, so that each block presents four characters which maybe brought to View by rotating the block on its supporting-pin.

The device is'operated by rotating the rack c until the block having thedesired letter reaches the mouth ofthe slot e andv is in alinement withthe arm f, the block being then transferred to the table and' securedby'the slot andarm. The rack i'sthen again rotated until the next letterdesired is in'position for y transference, and so on until the desiredletters are grouped upon the table.

It is obvious that the rack c may be rigidly fixed`- and the table e'rotatably mounted, the result being the same in either case.

My invention is not limited to the conjoint use of the slot e and thearm orrod f, as the rod alone will serve the purpose of holding a seriesof blocks in alinement and' will prevent Wardly fromv the table; butIprefer to use the sliot in addition to the rod to more effectively holdjthe blocks inalinement.

It will be observed that by making therack l of' annular form the spacewhich it surrounds apparatus a compact form.-

claiml. An apparatus of the character specified,

comprising a circular block-rack having a series of block-supportingpins,a block-receiver surrounded by the rack'and having a Wireguiding-rod, one of said partsbeing rotatable to bring either pin intoalinement with the guiding-rod, and a sericsof perforated blocksremovably mounted on said pins and transferable therefrom to theguide-rod.

2. An appliance of the character specied, comprising a circularblock-rack having a series of block-supporting pins, a circular tablesurrounded by the rack and having a blockguiding rod, one vof said partsbeing rotatable to bring either pi'n of the rack into alinement with thesaid' rod, and ay seri/es of perforated blocks removably mounted on thepins and transferable therefrom to the rod, theperiphery of the tableforming a guard' to prevent the removal of the blocks from all the pinsexcepting the pin in alinement with the rod.

3. A n appliance of the character specified,

s comprising a supporting-base having a verti [cal stud, a circular rackhaving a hub rotatable on said stud,land a series of radial pin-s,

" a-fixed circular table mounted on the stud l and surrounded by therack, said table havuing a block-guiding rod and a block-guiding I slotunder said rod, and avseries of perforated l blocks removably mounted onthe pins of the rack and transferable Vtherefrom toy the; rodi.

the removal of the blocks outwardly or upy In testimony Whereofl haveaffixed my si gnature in presence of two Witnesses.

JAMES; A.` HEALEY.

*.Vitnesses:

C. F. BROWN,` A.,D. HARRISON.

